Courier staff report
June 30, 2009 10:48 pm
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OTTUMWA — A woman has pleaded guilty to two charges of animal cruelty and one charge of sanitation of premises after authorities discovered she and her adult dependent son, as well as numerous animals, were living in squalid conditions.
Janet Faye Jackson, 59, offered the pleas in court Tuesday following last week’s discovery that her home at 1912 East Main St, was filled with debris, garbage and animal feces.
On Thursday, Ottumwa police executed a search warrant for Jackson’s house.
“The whole house was full of cat feces, dog feces, urine — several inches deep of debris and garbage,” said Officer Jeff Williams, the police officer in charge of animal control. “With the windows all sealed up, it’s well over 100 degrees in there. This is one of the worst I’ve seen in the city.”
At the time it was not clear how many animals, the majority of them cats, were living in the home.
“There were three dogs, and the owner has been ordered to take them to see a vet. It’s mainly cats. I’ll say 15 plus, but probably more. Kittens, too. We can’t locate them because of conditions inside the house,” Williams said last week. “There’s [too much] garbage to hide behind; we’re going to try and catch them so they don’t have to be in this environment anymore.”
Many of the cats were feral and “sick and diseased enough to need to be humanely euthanized,” said Williams.
Jackson and her son are receiving assistance from the Iowa Department of Human Services.
Along with pleading guilty to the charges, Jackson was also ordered to pay nearly $1,000 in fines and court costs.
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